Page 6 of The Tattered Gloves
The rules that had been drilled into my head since birth played over and over like a mantra in my mind as the unknown male made his way closer. I could feel my body quivering, the waves of terror matching the rapid fire of my heart.
“Hey! You ready?” my aunt said, her familiar voice cutting through like a knife.
Oh no… not again. Didthatrun in the family, too?
“As I’ll ever be.” The man laughed.
There was a brief moment of silence before she replied, “Great. Just give me a second, okay?”
“Sure.”
A door shut, but my body still refused to move. Still refused to leave the safe cocoon of blankets and warmth I’d created for it.
“Willow?” my aunt called out.
Nothing. No response.
I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
She stepped into the room with small movements and little sound, as if she were approaching a gentle gazelle in the wild. As she sat on the wingback chair in the corner, I saw the tips of her feet dangling in front of me.
She was wearing tie-dye socks with no shoes. For some reason, that slightly calmed me.
Looking up, I found the rest of her outfit equally odd. A matching tie-dye shirt and tattered denim overalls that looked older than me.
Was this woman for real?
“I’m not going to ask you if you’re okay because I can clearly see the answer to that question just by looking at you. What I am going to ask is, what did I do, and how can I fix it?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but the words were still not there.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself into an upright position but kept my gaze downward. Maybe talking to the floor would be easier.
“The man? Is he… will he be here often? Are there others?”
I wasn’t sure of how to phrase the question,Are you a prostitute?, to an aunt I’d just learned existed.
There were several moments of silence.
I wanted to look up to judge her expression to my question, but the floor was safe. The floor was easy.
So, I kept my head down, like I’d been taught.
“I want you to know, before the other day, I hadn’t heard from my sister in years. I know you must look at me and the life I have and wonder what kind of person am I to let you grow up with a woman like that when I was just a few hours down the road. But I didn’t know, okay? I didn’t know about you, just like you didn’t know about me. If I had, I would have done… something,” she huffed out. “But all of that is behind us now. I can’t even begin to know what kind of horrors my sister unloaded on you over the years. I’m sorry I didn’t find out about you sooner. And I’m sorry I couldn’t fix her for you. Lord knows, I tried. But, sometimes, certain people are beyond your help, and as much as it hurts, you just have to walk away… and hope they figure it out for themselves.”
My eyes squeezed shut as her words resonated.
She was right.
My mom was damaged goods.
But how soon would it be until Addy realized I was, too?
“Now, why don’t you go get ready?” she suggested in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. “We have an appointment at the high school in a couple of hours. Figured I’d give you a day to adjust, but tomorrow, you’ll need to get into the swing of things around here, and that includes an education.”
I nodded silently even though every molecule in my body was groaning at the idea of attending another school.
There were people there.
